The present invention is directed toward a collapsible crab trap and, more particularly, to a preassembled trap that can be readily erected for use and easily collapsed for storage.
There are many known collapsible crab traps on the market and proposed in the prior art. A problem with many of these existing traps is that they are not effective in trapping crabs when there are relatively strong tidal currents. This is primarily due to the fact that all four panels (both opposing pairs of side and end panels) are pivoted away from the top panel when the trap is in the open condition. U.S. Pat. Nos. 679,327, 1,193,816, 1,383,992, 1,968,758, 3,867,782 show examples of such traps. Accordingly, if the water current is rapidly moving in one direction, a crab or crabs entering the trap through one end panel or side panel may be forced out an opposing panel by the force of the current.
Another problem with existing collapsible crab traps is that the top and bottom walls are not rigidly supported between one another when the trap is in its erect and open condition. Consequently, they are not very Stable when the trap is open and may collapse at an undesirable time.
Yet another drawback with many existing crab traps is that they can not easily be moved from their erect configuration to their collapsed configuration. These traps often employ a plurality of clips and/or hooks in order to maintain the trap in the erect configuration. Accordingly, when it is time to collapse the trap, the plurality of clips and hooks must be removed and are frequently lost thereby making the trap unusable unless replacement parts can be found.